Trump Hotels Kicking Off New Midscale Franchising Brand

In a departure from the luxury hotels that the Trump brand is known for, the company is going after the midscale market with a new line, American Idea that sells franchises. Former Wyndham CEO Eric Danzinger is heading up the effort as CEO of the about-to-be-launched brand. He joined the Trump organization in August 2015 as CEO of Trump Hotel Collection. In contrast to the rest of the Trump hotel organization, the new chain will be franchised, which is what Danzinger knows and does.

Sounds like a natural. Is there a person in the world of normal intelligence who doesn't know who President Trump is?

Trump Hotels, diversifying from a longtime focus on the luxury market, has about 10 hotels in the pipeline for its recently announced midscale American Idea chain, Chief Executive Eric Danziger said in an interview with Reuters.

The new chain, the product of conversations last year between President Donald Trump's sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump about the lack of options in the midscale market, will be franchised and thus not directly operated by Trump Hotels, unlike most of the company's other properties.

…Danziger said most American Idea hotels would be conversions from other brands, with the first expected to open in early 2018. Advertising is set to begin next month, he said. — Sophia Kunthara, Reuters